Jul 26, 2012

Chasing out mosquitoes with the help of ayurveda

Puthuppally grama panchayat is undertaking a mosquito-eradication mission. At 6.30pm on Sunday, all the households in the panchayat will burn an ayurvedic medicinal mix to kill mosquitoes.

The medicinal packet is a joint effort by the panchayat and the
Ayurvedic department. All households will be provided these packets.

"Each 100-gram packet contains medicinal powder which can be used for a
week," said Dr Lovely Philip of the Government Ayurvedic Dispensary in
Puthuppally. "The best time to burn the powder is in the evenings when there are a lot of mosquitoes around," she said.The packet contains instructions on how the powder should be used. The
project is aimed at preventing the spread of contagious diseases.Dr Lovely said instead of buying the powder directly from the market,
the panchayat made the mix with the help of Kudumbasree and Asha
workers.

"We bought the 10 ingredients and made the mix at the Government Ayurveda Hospital.
It was then packed with the help of Kudumbasree and Asha workers. They
will distribute these packets on July 27 and 28," she said. Jessymol
Manoj, the panchayat president, lauded the ayurvedic department for its
support. "Some cases of dengue were reported in the panchayat recently,
and this made us opt for this project. But the price of the medicinal
powder, Rs 22 for 50 grams, was unaffordable. So we decided to make the
mix with the help of Dr Lovely," she said. The whole project
will cost less than a lakh of rupees. "After using it for a week, if
people find it effective, let them continue to use it on their own,"
Jessymol added. There are 18 wards in the panchayat and the average number of houses in each ward is 500.